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In most cases these days, when a property is sold following the death of the registered owner on title, an Estate Trustee for the individual would be required to apply to the Court for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will before the property may be conveyed to another individual.

This can be a lengthy and costly process. Moreover, it often causes problems for real estate transactions involving properties that the Estate Trustees have agreed to sell but have not obtained a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee prior to the scheduled day of closing.

There is an exception to this rule however, if the property in question is currently under the Land-Titles-Conversion-Qualified (LTCQ) system and no conveyance has taken place on same following its conversion from the Land Registry system to LTCQ.

In addition to no conveyance having occurred following the conversion referenced above, some of the other qualifiers that are essential in order to be eligible for the First Dealings Exception require the Estate Trustee to provide the complete value of the estate; provide evidence that the Will for the deceased was properly executed and witnessed; confirm that the deceased was over the age of 18 at the time of signing the Will; and provide a sworn declaration that the Will was not revoked or deemed invalid due to any subsequent marriage following the execution of same.

In addition to the above, the Estate Trustee must also provide a covenant to indemnify the Land Titles Assurance Fund from any future claims or causes should it turn out that the Will for the deceased was invalid and/or if it turns out that the Estate Trustee was not the appropriate individual to be dealing as the Estate Trustee for the deceased.

The pros and cons of choosing this option need to be taken into consideration on a case-by-case basis and it is crucial that the Estate Trustee seek legal advice before choosing which route to take.

Please feel free to contact one of our lawyers should you have questions about this topic.

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Taimoor Qureshi is an Associate Lawyer with Kormans LLP.  You can reach Taimoor at tqureshi@kormans.ca All blog entries are for your reading pleasure only and are not posted to provide legal advice. For your matter, we encourage you to consult with a lawyer to review and discuss your specific facts and circumstances. All blog entries are for your reading pleasure only and are not posted to provide legal advice. For your matter, we encourage you to consult with a lawyer to review and discuss your specific facts and circumstances. The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader and are not intended as advice or opinion to be relied upon in relation to any particular circumstances. For particular application of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice. Kormans LLP cannot be responsible for the content of other sites. We expressly disclaim all liability with respect to actions taken or actions not taken based on content received from a third party website linked, directly or indirectly, to that of Kormans LLP.  The link to another site is not to be construed in any way as an endorsement of the host, the site or the information contained therein, nor is such link to be inferred as an association or affiliation with the host.